Man pleads guilty to 4 Asian spa killings, sentenced to life
By KATE BRUMBACKJuly 28, 2021 GMT
CANTON, Ga. (AP) A man accused of killing eight people, mostly women of Asian descent, at Atlanta-area massage businesses pleaded guilty to murder Tuesday in four of the killings and was sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison.
Robert Aaron Long, 22, still faces the death penalty in the other deaths, which are being prosecuted in another county. The string of shootings at three businesses in March ignited outrage and fueled fear among Asian Americans, who already faced increased hostility linked to the coronavirus pandemic. Many were particularly upset when authorities suggested Long’s crimes weren’t racially motivated but born of a sex addiction, which isn’t recognized as an official disorder.
Man pleads guilty, sentenced to life in deadly Asian spa shootings
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Man pleads guilty to 4 Asian spa killings, sentenced to life - New Delhi Times - India Only International Newspaper
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Kate Brumback
Elcias Rocendo Hernandez Ortiz, who was shot it the face during the spa shootings, gives an impact statement during the plea hearing for Robert Aaron Long in Superior Court of Cherokee County in Canton, Ga. on Tuesday, July 27, 2021. The man accused of killing eight people, most of them women of Asian descent, at Atlanta-area massage businesses pleaded guilty to four of the murders. He was handed four sentences of life without parole. Robert Aaron Long still faces the death penalty in the four other deaths, which are being prosecuted in a different county. (Ben Gray/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, Pool)
Xiaojie Tan, 49, and
Daoyou Feng, 44, at the Young s Asians Massage Parlor. He then drove to Atlanta, where he killed four others at two different spas.
He is facing four consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole plus an additional 35 years in prison, but his lawyers are expected to ask for a lesser sentence.
While Long may have avoided the death penalty in Cherokee County, he could still be sentenced to death in Fulton County, where he shot and killed the other four victims,
Soon Chung Park, 74,
Yong Ae Yue, 63, and
Hyun Jung Grant, 51. He is facing 19 charges in Fulton County, including domestic terrorism. That trial may not get underway until 2024 due to a backlog of cases stemming from the coronavirus pandemic.